The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) on Saturday said some 5,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) will visit Taiwan next week as borders will reopen to the territory on February 15.
POEA Deputy Administrator Villamor Plan said the 5,000 workers are those whose visas were held prior to the deployment ban imposed by Taiwan last year and ,” When it comes to the number of OFWs that we can send there, it is estimated to be about 40,000. But as of now, we already have about 5,000 workers leaving.”
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Earlier in May 2021, Taiwan closed its borders to anyone without citizenship or an alien residency certificate.
The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced on February 7 the next phase of allowing fully vaccinated migrant workers from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand to enter Taiwan.
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The migrant workers shall quarantine for 14 days and stay at the same hotel for another seven days of self-health monitoring before going to their workplaces.
Chen Shih-chun, CECC head, said that the quarantine for overseas travelers will not be shortened until they have booster vaccine coverage of 50 percent by March.
